Imagine a day in the future when you can charge your cell phone using your sneakers, or charge a touch-screen device merely by rolling up the flexible screen. New devices that take advantage of the piezoelectric effect--the tendency of some materials to generate an electrical potential when they're mechanically stressed--are taking us one step closer to that reality. Ville Kaajakari of the Louisiana Tech University harnessed this effect by developing a tiny generator that can be embedded in a shoe sole.
The tiny smart device is part of “MEMS" or "micro electro mechanical systems," which combine computer chips with micro-components to generate electricity [EarthTechling].
Each time the sneaker-wearer goes for a stroll, the compression action would power up the circuits in the generator and produce tiny bits of usable voltage.
For now, the amount of energy produced is very small, but the generator could theoretically be used to power sensors, ...
